After the Bath
by lajulie
Summary: Leia, Han, and a bathtub (or a hot tub). Short ficlets that are a bit of a sequel to various parts of my fic "Three Baths." Originally posted as "To be continued" and "Bubbles" on Tumblr for Scoundress Saturdays.
1. Chapter 1 - To be continued

_After I wrote "Three Baths," a number of readers wanted to know whether the "to be continued" on Hoth was ever continued. So I wrote a little answer to that question. Originally posted to Tumblr for Scoundress Saturday._

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**To be continued**

Leia was still a bit breathless.

An hour ago, she'd been down to her skivvies, soaking in the Rogues' makeshift hot tub with Han. In fact—though she could barely believe she'd actually done this—she'd _invited_ Han into the hot tub with her.

His face, when she'd said, "I'll go in if you will"? Priceless. _There's one way to wipe away that smirk._

But it wasn't his smirk that had her preoccupied at the moment. It was his smile, his genuine smile, as he'd told her that he planned to stay. And that look he'd given her after she'd hugged him, his face bending toward hers…

_Finally_, she'd thought.

The Rogues had had terrible timing or wonderful timing, Leia couldn't quite decide which. Their noisy return had given Leia and Han just enough time to get out, dry off, throw clothes back on, and resume their conversation about Han's trip the following day, in which he would be taking back the parts from the hot tub.

Leia found herself wondering whether they'd dismantled it yet.

_What the hell are you _thinking_, Organa?_

This was a terrible idea. She knew better. _You're being ridiculous. It was just the excitement of the moment…of almost getting caught…_

This line of thinking was not helping. This line of thinking was going to lead somewhere she was sure to regret. Somewhere she'd been warned not to go for years, most of those warnings being her own.

_But I don't care_. Suddenly, she felt like she was sixteen again, making plans to sneak out of the palace for a swim in Aldera Lake. Even though that seemed like an impossible amount of time ago. _When did I get so old?_

She and Han had agreed that whatever this was, some part of it was to be continued. She wasn't entirely clear on what that meant.

Maybe she should go ask him.

Maybe she should check on whether the hot tub was still together.

Maybe she should try to concentrate on this report she'd been trying to write for the last hour and forget the whole damned thing.

She took a deep breath and went back to her datapad, pulling up the draft of her report.

A minute later, she stood up, shut the datapad, and strode toward the door before she could tell herself no. She was moving so quickly that she nearly ran right into Han.

The smirk was back. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

"I was just—" she looked down at the two insulated mugs in his hands. "Is that for me?"

Han's smirk fell away, and he looked almost…nervous for a moment. "Well, uh. Thought you might need warming up. After…" He trailed off, but handed one of the mugs to her.

"Thank you." She took a sip, her eyes remaining on his face. "Come in," she said, stepping back into the room. The door whooshed shut behind him.

They were silent for a moment, then Leia spoke. "I thought I'd just see—how the, uh, hot tub was doing." _That came out wrong_.

"Oh yeah?" he asked. He was grinning at first, but his face took on a regretful look. "Rogues are in it. One last hurrah, then they're takin' it apart," he said.

"Oh," she said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Yeah," he agreed.

They were silent for a moment, then Leia reached behind Han and locked the door.

There was that astonished face again, the one from the hot tub.

In what seemed like a single motion, she took Han's mug from him, placed both mugs on the side table, and put her hands at his waist, guiding him backwards toward the desk.

He knew better. She knew better. Alarm bells were sounding in her head like crazy, datapads and flimsies were crashing to the floor, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered but his face finally, _finally_ bending the rest of the way towards hers, the feeling of his lips, his tongue, his hands as they…continued.


	2. Chapter 2 - Bubbles

_Written in response to a request for a fic with Han and Leia in a bubble bath. Set about a year post-ROTJ, shortly after the holos from the photo shoot in "Three Baths" have been released. Originally posted to Tumblr for Scoundress Saturday.  
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**Bubbles**

Every muscle on Han Solo's body was aching.

The war had been over, really over, for more than a year, but the responsibilities of command were not. As a general, Han could have gotten away with simply supervising many of the drills his troops were charged with, but he prided himself on not being _that_ kind of general. If the beings under his command were expected to do it, he'd sure as hells be willing to do it, too. Today's drill had been a hell of an exercise, though.

_What am I, some old man?_ he wondered, and then answered his own question. _To them, yes_. Half of the beings under his command couldn't have been more than twenty-two standard years, and even the younger veterans of the Rebellion were just that—veterans. They'd won, but the war had aged them all beyond their years.

He perked up a bit when he reached the lobby of their building. Just a few minutes more, and he could collapse on the couch next to his beloved Princess. Maybe if he was real nice, she would make him a drink.

But when he opened the door, the apartment was still dark. _Damn_, he thought. _Must've gotten caught working late again_.

He began taking off his boots. He'd comm Leia after he got settled, see how much longer she was going to be.

He'd just gotten the second boot off when he heard a sound coming from another room. Instinctively, he drew his blaster and took a safe position by the wall, listening.

"You can put that away," said a familiar voice, calling from the other room. "It's just me."

He couldn't help the grin that fell across his face. "Leia?" he called, following the sound of her voice toward the 'fresher.

"No, your other wife," she said dryly, and he was ready to make a similarly smart response to that when he opened the 'fresher door, and stopped short.

Their large whirlpool bathtub was filled with bubbles, and Leia was lounging in the midst of them, her dark hair piled atop her head and an extremely satisfied look on her face. Han couldn't help gaping a little bit.

Leia looked amused, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Speechless, flyboy?"

He recovered, his grin making its way back to his face. "For you? All the damned time, Sweetheart." He began taking his clothes off. "What's the occasion?"

She smiled at him, her tone nonchalant but her expression teasing. "I thought General Solo might need more bubbles," she said, a reference to his recent holo shoot for a popular magazine.

He slipped into the water, savoring the warmth. "How did you know?" he asked, his aching muscles already starting to relax as he sank further into the tub.

"Had a feeling," she said, floating toward him.

"Mmm," he said, pulling her to him for a kiss. Her lips were soft, and tasted like—

"Whiskey?" she murmured softly as they moved apart. At his questioning look, she moved to the side of the tub behind her, reached back for one of the glasses, and offered it to him.

"Always a step ahead of me," he said, taking the glass and sipping. "Love that."

"My strategic mind at work," she quipped, taking a sip from her glass. "I did almost forget something, though." She turned her attention to the perimeter of the room, lifting up a hand and making a slight waving motion, at which the candles that had been placed all around them lit up.

"Nice," Han said, grinning. "Sure do know how to romance a guy, Princess."

She laughed, and it made Han's grin go even wider. How many times had he longed for that laugh, and the little crinkling of her eyes that went with it? Would he ever stop thrilling when he was the cause of that laughter? He thought not. He hoped not.

His aching muscles were all but forgotten now; he just needed those lips, those arms again. He put his glass down, giving her a look that he hoped would come close to capturing his intentions.

She clearly got it, abandoning her glass to draw closer to him again. In an instant, her arms were around him, her lips on his, her curves pressed to his chest. As his lips caressed her, candlelight flickering around them, Han thought, _this_. This woman, so delicate and powerful, so wry and loving, so brilliant and tender. This love, so improbable and so real all at once. This was the fountain of youth, the divine, the Force, whatever. This would always be worth fighting for, no matter how old he got.


End file.
